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Some reflections on SDSU's performance at the Bison open on Saturday judging exclusively on results (there was no video feed and you couldn't pay me to make the drive to Fargo).
125: Jordan took second on the day taking an 11-3 loss to #5 Mitch McKee with no significant wins. We didn't learn a lot about him here. Roybal performed very will taking third with his sole loss being to McKee having beaten NDSU's current starter Colby Evans, and Jager Eisch who was a much more heralded recruit than he was.
133: Marko and Anderson have to be the top two in the competition for the spot having beaten out Cardinal and Gross respectively, they both took losses to Vombaur and March. Cardinal had a terrible draw, going 0-2 facing Marko and Gliva, but he competed in both matches.
141: Carlson was the jacks lone entrant here and he was able to win the bracket though he did face a significant challenge from gopher backup Jakob Bergeland which is concerning. I would also like to see him widen the gap between he and Droegemueller who he is going to have to face off against again.
149: Price struggled here losing to gopher freshman Blaine Brenner by major decision. He shared 3rd place with Dan Kimball who had an similar performance. It looks like 149 may still be up for grabs. I think that stud recruit Alek Martin did very poorly here considering his resume, getting majored Drew Roberts (who Kimball beat) before picking up two trifling wins and getting knocked out by Sebas Swiggum (who would go on to take 6th). Hopefully this is explained by an exterior factor as he certainly would have placed in this tournament if he had entered it last year as a senior in high school.
157: True freshman Cael Swensen proved himself to be the top dog at the weight this weekend beating Thomson as well as the man who beat O'Neil in the consolation semis to take third place. He also gave #5 Brayton Lee a good 3-1 match. O'Neil and Thomsen shared 5th place.
165: Connor Gaynor did fine here taking 5th, losing to Nathan Fuller from Minnesota twice in close matches.
174: The results for DeVos were not encouraging with him needing overtime to beat DII #10 Max Bruss and wining a close 3-2 match against Bailey O'Reilly before opting out of the finals (not sure if or to what extent he is injured). Marshall Hauck went 2-2 on the weekend.
184: The jacks looked good here with Kruger and Batani sharing third and Schoon taking fifth. Kruger and Batani both ended up beating Michael Nelson who is the current bison starter, which is encouraging. Caleb Orris went 1-2 and Kelen Meyer went 2-2.
197: South Dakota natives Casperson and Donnelly both looked very good in what was a fairly weak weight taking third and fifth respectively. Donnelly (who I had pegged as a very good DII or DIII prospect) actually took out #23 overall recruit Bennett Tabor.
285: Nevills did well but not quite as well as expected getting pinned by Mets in the finals (that sometimes happens when you wrestle Mets) on his way to a second place finish. McConnville performed fairly well beating a talented gopher backup in Keaton Kluever before losing to Mets and a very good bison freshman in Juan Mora.
Overall, I think the jackrabbits had a below average performance which I think is excusable. It is a very long season and, if you're going to be off-peak, now is the time to be there. There were some bright spots but I think that there were more areas on concern. I suspect that they will be completing at a higher level as we get further into the season.
Overperformers: Bailey Roybal, Dan Kimball, Cael Swensen, Sam Kruger, Cody Donnelly, Bowen McConville
Underperformers: Derrick Cardinal, Zach Price, Alek Martin, Cade Devos, AJ Nevills
125: Jordan took second on the day taking an 11-3 loss to #5 Mitch McKee with no significant wins. We didn't learn a lot about him here. Roybal performed very will taking third with his sole loss being to McKee having beaten NDSU's current starter Colby Evans, and Jager Eisch who was a much more heralded recruit than he was.
133: Marko and Anderson have to be the top two in the competition for the spot having beaten out Cardinal and Gross respectively, they both took losses to Vombaur and March. Cardinal had a terrible draw, going 0-2 facing Marko and Gliva, but he competed in both matches.
141: Carlson was the jacks lone entrant here and he was able to win the bracket though he did face a significant challenge from gopher backup Jakob Bergeland which is concerning. I would also like to see him widen the gap between he and Droegemueller who he is going to have to face off against again.
149: Price struggled here losing to gopher freshman Blaine Brenner by major decision. He shared 3rd place with Dan Kimball who had an similar performance. It looks like 149 may still be up for grabs. I think that stud recruit Alek Martin did very poorly here considering his resume, getting majored Drew Roberts (who Kimball beat) before picking up two trifling wins and getting knocked out by Sebas Swiggum (who would go on to take 6th). Hopefully this is explained by an exterior factor as he certainly would have placed in this tournament if he had entered it last year as a senior in high school.
157: True freshman Cael Swensen proved himself to be the top dog at the weight this weekend beating Thomson as well as the man who beat O'Neil in the consolation semis to take third place. He also gave #5 Brayton Lee a good 3-1 match. O'Neil and Thomsen shared 5th place.
165: Connor Gaynor did fine here taking 5th, losing to Nathan Fuller from Minnesota twice in close matches.
174: The results for DeVos were not encouraging with him needing overtime to beat DII #10 Max Bruss and wining a close 3-2 match against Bailey O'Reilly before opting out of the finals (not sure if or to what extent he is injured). Marshall Hauck went 2-2 on the weekend.
184: The jacks looked good here with Kruger and Batani sharing third and Schoon taking fifth. Kruger and Batani both ended up beating Michael Nelson who is the current bison starter, which is encouraging. Caleb Orris went 1-2 and Kelen Meyer went 2-2.
197: South Dakota natives Casperson and Donnelly both looked very good in what was a fairly weak weight taking third and fifth respectively. Donnelly (who I had pegged as a very good DII or DIII prospect) actually took out #23 overall recruit Bennett Tabor.
285: Nevills did well but not quite as well as expected getting pinned by Mets in the finals (that sometimes happens when you wrestle Mets) on his way to a second place finish. McConnville performed fairly well beating a talented gopher backup in Keaton Kluever before losing to Mets and a very good bison freshman in Juan Mora.
Overall, I think the jackrabbits had a below average performance which I think is excusable. It is a very long season and, if you're going to be off-peak, now is the time to be there. There were some bright spots but I think that there were more areas on concern. I suspect that they will be completing at a higher level as we get further into the season.
Overperformers: Bailey Roybal, Dan Kimball, Cael Swensen, Sam Kruger, Cody Donnelly, Bowen McConville
Underperformers: Derrick Cardinal, Zach Price, Alek Martin, Cade Devos, AJ Nevills
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